January 2011

January 30, 2011

Today I had a chance to see ASU wrestle against Cal Poly. I don't usually go to wrestling meets but decided I wanted to watch one athlete in particular. There is a ASU senior from Mesa, Arizona that has made quite a name for himself, Anthony Robles. He was born without a leg and has still become an All-American Athlete. Today was his last match at ASU.

I took my camera but unfortunately my battery died before I saw him wrestle. I was able to find a video of him on Sports Center in 2009 on YouTube to use for this post. I'm sure if I spend a little time digging around I could find video of him wrestling. And seeing him wrestling was a pretty cool experience.

Because it was his last meet they had his match last, so I was able to watch an hour of wrestling before him. All of the athletes were in great shape and must of had an overall body fat percentage of 9% or less. They were so muscular, it was surprising.

Anthony's match was much different then the other matches. He has found a way to make this disadvantage work very well for him in his chosen sport. He had a crazy strong grip, could get low to the ground and had such great upper body strength. His one disadvantage is he doesn't have the balance that the other athletes have. But with his senior record being 20-0 you wouldn't know it.

I wanted to post this story as an inspiration for myself and others. We all have reasons why we can't. But as I been told before, you either have reasons or results- which do you chose to have in your life?

January 28, 2011

Check out my friends photos here. They will link to one another until you come full circle back to me... It's week 1 so not everyone is finished with the first assignment.

I love my photog friends! As a group we are doing one photography assignment a week for 52 weeks. Each week we will share our photos on our blog or flickr account. With the goal that we will push ourselves and continue to master our craft. This week we obviously had to do a self portrait.

I really wish we would have started with another type of photo. I'm incredibly uncomfortable in front of the camera... I had planned on doing a photo focusing on my hands. However, at the last minute my girlfriend Suzy (makeup artist) came over (to work on another project) and she ended up doing my makeup. As she called it, a "sun kissed" look.

That idea had me envisioning a photo with lots of sun light and the rest- blown out. And I liked the idea of having the back of my head lit by the sun and me in field of over grown grass (or weeds). But I didn't know if I could set up the photo and be in the photo and have it work in a reasonable amount of time. So here is what I ended up with!

The first photo I love the light but rushed the photo. It's all natural and took my five minutes to take and the TCA. I didn't want to get caught in public taking my own photo (can you say: narcissus). Luckily I was able to get a two quick shots and I no one saw me.

The second photo is taken on my stairs at home. You know how sometimes you'll sit in the sun and close your eyes and "just take it in" like a breathe of fresh air. That's what I wanted for this photo. The mood was hard to get right, I had to work at it. I didn't want to look sensual, it needed to look fun and alive! I might need to work on that concept a little more still.... The sun light was in a great spot for this photo and I took my time with these. However, I was out of focus for most of them. But it was good practice and good for me to feel what it's like to do all things I ask my clients to do.

January 26, 2011

Presley's preschool had a parent teacher meeting to discuss education options for our children. Presley will not be heading to kindergarden for another year but we decided to attend. It's a topic that has given me some anxiety. And I tent to think it's that for many families so I decided to blog about what I discovered.

A few months ago I had one teacher give me information on where to find the K-12 requirements as well as school rating. With that information I was able to see that the school in our neighborhood was a highly preforming school (ranked by test scores). This as good, but considering I don't care for all the testing required and many educators agree- does this matter?

Yes, it's a good measure but is not the only criteria you should use to pick a school. Each family is different so different emphasis may be placed in different areas when doing this research. Here are a few pointers to help you feel more empowered when making this decision.

Here are the pointers I received:

Visit the school (and others) several different times and take a tour of different grade levels. Because your child will ideally continue on with their classmates in that school so make sure it's a good fit. Each school has a culture and see how it feels for you and your child.

Are the seats in rows or in groups? Do you like or dislike this set up?

Ask about extra curricular activities and discipline policies.

If your school allows fill out a Teacher Preference form.

Yeah, nothing ground breaking I know. I did know I should visit schools I just didn't have any questions in mind. And I feel like whatever the person tells me at the time, sound reasonable. These points above gave me a few ideas to walk in the door with.

But this last point have never crossed my mind. I was unaware but apparently in the recent years the age for kids entering kindergarden has been set back. So younger children are now allowed into school. This was done not because all of a sudden our kids are now smarter but because of funding (more kids=more money). Consider your child emotional maturity when enrolling in school. Just because your child may be able to preform the required tasks does not make them school ready.

The point to consider, if your child is entered into school just making the cut off date. Your child will for their entire education career be young for their grade level. We were shown handwriting samples for kids from a 4yr old, 5 yr old and 6yr. old. The hand writing difference was very noticeable and all age appropriate. However, not all of them were "good" for kindergarten.

I really thought this was a great point I never considered. I would love for Presley to have one more year of emotional maturity and be the older girl in her grade. After talking to my brother about this he pointed out he remembers athletically playing against older boys in our grade and how much of a difference they were in size. One of the educators pointed out that especially if you have a small or shy child it's sort of setting your child up to be a follower. An interesting point.

Now what if you live in an area where your school is not performing well. There is something to be said about your children having neighborhood friends. So what do you do? Again still follow the steps above, low performing schools do have some good teachers. These schools also get more training for their teachers.

Parent involvement is a responsibility that we can't fall short on. We have to be advocates for our children and make sure they get the attention and education they need.

January 25, 2011

I was with a friend the other day and she told me how her Mom made Barbie clothes. I asked her if her Mom sold them that I would love homemade clothes for Presley's Barbie. She does not but Renee (and her Mom) gave Presley several beautiful dresses/outfits for her Barbie.

Now when she told me her Mom made dresses I expected very simple dresses. I mean, those clothes are so small. How intricate can you get? Apparently very, these dresses are amazing and some of them are knitted, they have beautiful embellishments, buttons, lace or ribbon. These are really miniature women's clothes, they are beautiful. Presley loves, loves, loves them and I do too. I'm so thankful for the gift and it's making me wish I was better at sewing!

My Bug is home sick so the new clothes have been a great distraction today.

January 24, 2011

So I've been mysteriously absent from my blog lately. Ok, maybe not "mysteriously" but it's been a bit neglected. It's not that I haven't been photographing I just haven't had the time to blog about it... I wanted to add a few of the 1000 photo I have shot in the past week in todays blog.

Saturday I photographed a Crossfit event in Tucson, The Winter Open. It's the first event of this size that I had attended and photographed. The competing athletes were some of the best that I had seen and loved that I had such a great view of the event. The work outs were so intense and difficult at times I didn't know how or if some of them would finish.

I really don't like looking at videos of workouts (or reality tv competitions) because I feel the intensity is lost. And it's easy to sit on my couch and think they're being whiny. Knowing this about me, I tried to photograph the intensity of the day. This event's workouts were longer (16 minutes) there for giving me a chance to cherry pick my shots.

Another thing I like about these shots was a bit of grain (not super sharp) to make them look more like an old black and white film camera. It adds a bit of grit to the feel of the overall photo, something you would expect and an event like this. Not to mention I to adjust a setting to allow me to shot in this lighting with out a flash (therefore = grain).

One thing I wish I could have been able to photograph was a bit more of the blood. The pull up bars and ring are a spot that are not very gentle on the hands during any competition I've been to. One competitors hand was bleeding so much he couldn't get a firm grip on the ring to pull himself up to do a muscle up. Instead of quitting he just grabbed a paper towel and kept trying to pull himself up.

So here are a few of my photos... It's been a learning process for me to do these events. It's something new and I'm not quite where I want to be with the look but I'm getting there.

January 19, 2011

I've always had a hard time figuring out where I fit in the "girl" spectrum. I have a sailor's mouth and my sense of humor, well humor is a trait appreciated in men not women. With that all being said, I love heels, clothes, jewelry, handbags, fake lashes and makeup. I still don't know where I fit in the "girl" spectrum but now I'm better at applying makeup!

I didn't wear a lot of eye make up because I never had a lesson! I've tried to makeup for it wearing fake lashes, they make any eye stand out... I've been to the makeup counters but I always leave there feeling I look as if I work at The Copacabana. So for years I've had all this eye makeup but never knew how to use it or just plain afraid to use it.

It wasn't until meeting Suzy a makeup artist that I really learned what works for me. She does makeup for bridal parties and she won't charge extra because it's your wedding (some artists do that). She will also come to your house and give you a makeup lesson. I wanted to learn how to do a smoky eye so she did my makeup and taught me how to use the brushes and eye shadows I have.

She's also who I recommend for my clients who want there makeup done picture perfect! Oh almost forgot, she is super reasonable ($50-75)! With a little apprehension (I don't want her too busy for me) I've attached her contact information below.

January 17, 2011

We had a wonderful day off. With the winter temperatures being unseasonably high today we spent most of our day at the park. Then Presley's old sitter came by this evening for dinner, drinks and a dance party. I wish all days could be this fun and carefree.

Presley fell asleep with out problem and I was able to spend some time blogging and chatting with friends... Being that it was MLK day today, I also took a few minutes to listen to his, I Have a Dream speech. And was as moved if not more as I was the first time I heard it. Hearing those words and reflecting on the photos from today gives me chills and hope that my Presley will live to see a world flooded with compassion and understanding. I wish we were further along in this journey of equality then we are today. But I remain hopeful in that pursuit.

January 12, 2011

So I was soo excited for my session today. Seriously I was counting down the hours until the session... Then we drive to our location only to find a party (full on heaters and catering stations) being throw at my beautiful location! I tried not to show how disappointed I was, but it was so hard...

We only had an hour of day light so I had to adjust my plan quickly. Being to adjust is something that I pride myself on as a "professional", because we all know- life happens! So we moved on to a different location on the same grounds. How it worked out, well you can be the judge of that. I know I had a great time and loved that my cute couple were soo easy to photograph that I wish I had 10 more couples like then!

My chandelier concept was soo much fun, I can't wait to use it again! We had so much more planned for the session today, we just ran out of daylight. More to come I'm sure.

January 08, 2011

There are moments through out the day in our home that feel calm and quiet. The photos are simple but the comfort of home is conveyed. I plan to share a few of these once a week titled, "home". I hope you enjoy them.